Shloka 107
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आपके केश गंगाके तरंगोंसे अंकित तथा मुञ्जके समान हैं। आपको नमस्कार है। आप ब्राह्मणोंके छ: कर्म--अध्ययन-अध्यापन, यजन-याजन तथा दान और प्रतिग्रहसे संतुष्ट रहते हैं; स्वयं यजन, अध्ययन और दानरूप तीन कर्मोंमें ही तत्पर रहते हैं। आपको मेरा प्रणाम है ।। वर्णाश्रमाणां विधिवत् पृथक्कर्मनिवर्तिनि । नमो घुष्याय घोषाय नम: कलकलाय च
varṇāśramāṇāṁ vidhivat pṛthak-karmanivartini | namo ghuṣyāya ghoṣāya namaḥ kalakalāya ca ||
Your hair is marked like the waves of the Ganga and is like muñja grass. Salutations to you. You are satisfied with the six duties of the Brahmanas—study and teaching, sacrificing and causing sacrifice to be performed, giving and receiving; yet you yourself are devoted only to the three duties of sacrificing, study, and giving. To you I bow. And I offer reverent salutations to the sacred sound that, according to rule, distinguishes and regulates the separate duties of varṇa and āśrama. I bow to the resonant call and to the ceaseless murmuring.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse venerates the principle that dharma is sustained when the duties of each varṇa and āśrama are kept distinct and followed according to rule; the ‘sound’ imagery suggests public proclamation, ritual recitation, and the living rhythm of ordered conduct.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction on dharma and social order; here he offers salutations to the force (personified) that maintains proper differentiation of duties, praising the resonant and murmuring sounds associated with regulated religious and communal life.